Sho knew that on the battlefield even a single second could spell the difference between victory and defeat, this mattered more against supernatural opponents who could have endurance far beyond mortal limits. Thankfully though it seemed that even those who were not human had their weaknesses, Kindred could be staked through the heart. As Cesba just did, the Tizimice hadn't expected the sudden and creative usage of her spider limbs. The tip of the limb was just sharp enough to break right through the skin and stab the heart of the kindred. If it hadn't Sho realised the danger Cesba would have been put in, the fiend could have used his fleshcraft on that limb more certainly. Nevermind though, it was a risk that paid off. The monster groaned and then fell to the ground in a very stiff manner.

That did it, Kindred when staked entered the state of Torpor. Essentially a coma of sorts, they were fully aware of what was around them. But couldn't move an inch, if the Kindred possessed a high level of auspex they could use that. But nothing else. Carlson wordlessly readied his blade and raised it, normally he'd allow his fallen foe a chance to make a last minute confession. But given the state of this monster he couldn't talk, Carlson swung his blade down and decapitated the Kindred. Who then vanished into dust.

"Mission complete." Carlson muttered.

Sho sighed, holstering his blade. Was it the true Kindred they'd killed or one fleshcrafted to resemble it? Only time would tell. Chon would then say "We need to get that girl out of here."

Carlson nodded, he'd move to where the woman was. Drawing his sword he'd cut away the fleshy bindings holding her, with Sho promptly catching her before she hit the floor. The young man then said to his team "Lunar this woman needs medical attention asap please, be sure to get her to the hospital."

Lunar promptly came and accepted the weight of the girl, her petite form belying the strength her robotic frame had. As Sho moved the woman though he could hear her mutter something.

"Oto......" Sho didn't hear the rest of it though.

The head of the team sighed and turned to Cesba saying "Thank you for your help Cesba, we'd have had a hard time beating that thing without your sharp limbs. We'll get this girl to a hospital, Sho can take you home. We'll let you know how she is tomorrow. Sayonara.

Sho would put a reassuring hand on Cesba's back and said "Come on Cesba-chan, she is in good hands. Let's go, I can stay home with you if you wish." the officer would do anything to allay any worries the spider woman may have.

Cesba did not want to see the mysterious woman go...There were things that needed to be answered for. Things that she did not understand. Sho would guide Cesba way and offered to stay with her if she needed. "I...I do not. I think I need some time to myself. But please, when you find out who this woman is, Sho..." The spider would stop for a moment and looked right into the man's eyes with her own. "Please tell me." She was put off by these few moments at the end of the fight, that was all it took. Cesba, still having all of her spider arms out, uses them to walk back up the stairs and out of the base.

..........

It had now been a few days. Cesba had been visited once by her friend Eve. She talked about something or other, but Cesba did not listen. She was still almost traumatized. It took a night's rest for her to stop shaking. A day or so more after that and it would have been a week already since they had done their mission. Cesba was slowly returning to normal. She still wondered and had questions, but if it had been a week already with no answers then why wait for them?

Ovens were an amazing thing. A box of fire? It made thing so much easier to cook. And that is what the Arachniom was doing. She sets a loaf of bread down on an open windowsill. It allowed the scents of fresh baked bread to waft out into the open forest that she had been calling home for some time now.

Team Starmage now had to deal with this injured and clearly out of it young woman, likely captured by the monsters of this house. But why? Cesba was not too far from here, did they simply do a mistaken identity? Everything about her was an enigma right now, but what mattered now was to get her prompt medical treatment. Questions would be asked afterwards, already a cleanup crew would be on their way to tidy things up. Sho quietly walked Cesba home, he was mostly quiet on the trip back. He was just as clueless as she so he felt it best not to voice any potential theories. Still she was a great asset in battle, but he preferred she stayed away from conflict such as this.

Sho would have surely informed Cesba about any revelations that came about from this girl, but Jenny was busy working as a nurse at the hospital. But the girl spoke nary a peep since recovering, she would eat and look around. Save for it she refused to talk to anyone. Hence why there was no feedback to Cesba, there was not much to say.

Eventually Carlson stood outside her door, rubbing his forehead in annoyance. The higher ups were wanting her to talk. He entered with Sho, the girl looked at them both sitting in her bed.

"You ok?" Carlson said, knowing he would likely not get a response.

True enough he got none save a side glance to the windows, her red hair dropped down to her shoulders. It looked frayed and knotted, like she had yet to brush it properly.

Carlson sighed, the only person who would not be helped is herself. But her gaze was on Sho, the officer frowned at her. He knew ways to make people talk but Carlson being a man of morals disallowed it.

Sho moved forward and stated "Look we know your not human, your an Arachniom. We confirmed it. Were you trying to steal the egg?"

The girl shook her head, but just as Sho prepared to speak suddenly she stated "I....wanted to see the woman." with a voice that sounded delicate but faded. Like it wasn't used for a long time.

Carlson turned at Sho, silently telling him he would take it from here. The man said "Cesba Esmeralda? Why her?"

In response the patient said "I had to find her, please let me see her. I promise I will tell all to you both if I can have her present."

Azura's lord drew a sharp breath in, this woman was a liability. Carlson however did like to play fast and hard with rules. After all Carlson usually just got yelled at anyway. Time to stick it to the bigwigs and get to the bottom of this. Sho normally was a stick in the mud, but Carlson's cowboy nature rubbed on him just a little bit.

A short while later the trio would exit the hospital, the girl's dress stitched back by Jenny. After getting into a car Carlson would proceed to drive, using a secret path visible only to those aware to see through the enchantments. Otherwise you just......didn't move anywhere near it........

"You at least got a name lady?" Carlson requested, looking up at the mirror to the back of the car.

The girl sighed and then muttered "Arac, its a common name for girls with my race." as she twirled a strand of her red hair.

Eventually Carlson would arrive near Cesba's home turning the car off, he nodded to Sho who proceeded to open the door for Arac. He then stood behind her with Carlson leading the front, Sho had a hand ready to jolt this woman in case she did anything funny, it was just something about her that was off. Not that she knew everything about where Cesba was, but what was she doing near her.

"Cesba-san! Its Carlson and Sho, we brought the woman. Says her name is Arac, she wants to talk to you! Nice bread by the way, can smell it from here. No wonder Sho here sees you so often!" Carlson stated as they neared the door, Sho simply rolled his eyes. Arac bit her lower lip, what would she say to Ms Esmeralda?

It was something of a shock to even see another Arachniom out of their homeland. Then again, Cesba hadn't thought about what she left behind. A wake of destruction and a race in shambles. As far as she knew, there was no usurption of a Queen before. It was scary to think about what had happened to them all actually...

Did anyone know she had the entire race's life stuck between some webs in the basement? If that egg were to break...

The sounds of a car knocked the thoughts from her head and shoved her worry down deeper. She approaches the door to open it to those outside, worried about what was on the other side of the door, and what would awair her for today...

Carlson had a sneaking suspicion about this girl, she knew too much about Cesba who for all intents and purposes was meant to be known only to a select few. More so how close she had been found to the former's domain, did she know about what lurked below and why Cesba was living there in the first place? They would find out. Sho stood behind Arac with Carlson at the front, Cesba opened the door.

"Heya Cesba! We brought out guest over!" Carlson stated the obvious in an effort to defuse any potiential tension. Arac simply huffed and looked at the other member of her race. Sho gave a small but warm smile to Arac, she'd been through a lot lately and the ex JSDF agent wanted to get to the bottom of this to at least bring her peace of mind. Perhaps this was all some misunderstanding and Arac came to Cesba to see the life source of their race in person and maybe even become a learner under her. Either way Arac needed to talk.....

After entering the house Sho would make sure he was still behind Arac in case she made a break for it, Sho had become accustomed to dealing with Cesba's extra limbs by grabbing and shocking them. Should work against Arac if she tries anything funny. Carlson would motion for Arac to take a seat, the girl looking around at the webbing covering almost all of the house before placing herself down on a chair.

"Hello, your Cesba yeah?" she asked, her voice delicate but subdued. As if she hasn't used it to converse in some time.

Carlson would fold his arms and say "That's related to what we want to know, how did you find her?"

Arac put her hands on her lap, looking at Cesba to say something before continuing......

Cesba wasnt able to detect Arac once again. She thought she smelled the scent of another Arachniom. But...No...She couldn't be. The skell just wasnt right! But Cesba couldn't be too confused for long as Carlson and Sho were also there. She couldn't fly into another frenzy like that. It wasnt that she didnt think she couldnt take them. She just didnt want to find that out.

They were let in and seated.

"I..." She hesitated to reveal herself. "Am Cesba. The Queen's...Forner chef. I cannot tell you mucb more than that, I'm afraid. I must know more about you first. So, please do." Cesba was on edge, unsure if Carlson amd Sho picked up on it. She didnt hope that they did somethimg about it, opting more for a silent notice.

Carlson sat next to Arac, making sure she was at ease best he could. Sho came back from the kitchen with a tray and glasses of water. Arac was looking intently at Cesba, she could detect a scent from her. It was.....familiar but she......it was deja vu. They'd never really met before, but Arac knew it to be so....she......

Arac sipped from her water, Sho leaned back on the nearest wall. He would let Carlson and Cesba handle this, Sho was a skilled interrogator but knew his......methods were a bit extreme for this subject. So he let them do it, Cesba can play bad cop and Carlson good in his mind.

"We'll ask again. How did you find Cesba?" Carlson asked.

The teen girl would state "Because......I travelled through time......" Sho had some water in his mouth to quietly gargle but was then spat out by the ex JSDF agent. A stunned look on his usually stoic expression.

Both Carlson and Sho were silent for a few seconds. Then suddenly Carlson would say"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that, mind repeating that again?"

"I am from the future. I came to prevent a great disaster from happening, and it links to you all." Arac said, her tone a bit urgent.

Sho quickly composed himself and walked towards the girl, placing his hand around the back of her neck. Tensing his fingers near the sides of it. After a couple of seconds Sho would say "Carlson-sama I am reading her pluse and her bio electricity. When people lie there is a reaction in their body, regardless of her story I can confirm she's not lying."

Carlson was silent, taking it in. "Its not unreasonable to assume this, we have traveled to other worlds before. So time travel is not impossible."

Suddenly Arac would then state "My Mother is Cesba Esmeralda."

Sho would keep his hand on Arac's neck, but his eyes near bulged out his sockets. "She.....She's not lying!!!" he stammered out and looking right at Cesba.